Fishing for Friends
by hostilecrayon
Summary: Heero and Duo decide to play a question game when the lights go out. 1 equals 2


Title: Fishing for Friends  
Author: hostilecrayon  
Pairing: 1 equals 2  
Rating: PG  
Warnings: Kissing!  
Word Count: 1,986  
Disclaimer: I am the owner of sickness at the moment, and though GW is like an OCD sickness to me, I still don't own the original idea or any of the characters. Gundam Wing is owned by Hajime Yatate and Yoshiyuki Tomino.  
Notes: Written for misaoduo, who had the prompt of "Kissing in the dark". Also written for the GW500 Fishing prompt. Lisha writes something that's not post war? What?!

**Fishing for Friends**

The rain fell hard against the windows, thundering through the house. Duo stood at the glass sliding door, watching it pour down over the earth as he toweled his loose hair, wet from his hot shower.

"We barely made it out of that one, eh 'Ro?

Heero grunted, methodically cleaning his gun and preparing it for further use. Duo pushed gingerly at his shoulder and his hand came away red.

"I guess I should bandage these wounds before I get too much dirt in them."

Heero nodded slightly, absorbed in double-checking their rations for the week. He tossed Duo a salve and a roll of bandages. "Use it sparingly. It's the last we have until we can make it into town."

"Which won't be for a while," Duo grumbled, carefully wiping the blood away with his wet towel. "I'm surprised my shoulder didn't bleed more. It's a pretty deep cut." He went about binding his various wounds, careful to wrap his shoulder tight enough to stop the slow oozing of blood that hadn't stopped for hours. "It still bled pretty well, though," he winced, the blood spotting through the salve smeared across it and dotting the bandages a rich color.

"What exactly are we supposed to do for the next week?" Duo queried, tossing the bandages back to Heero and stretching his limber body.

"Wait for orders."

"So basically, just hole up like rats."

Heero shrugged, checking what remained of the bandages and putting them in his big, green duffle bag with everything else.

The stood amiably in silence for a while; Heero reading a book and Duo staring into the rain without really seeing.

There was a deafening crack of thunder and a brilliant flash of lightning, and then it was dark.

"Fuck." Duo turned from his view and grabbed his hair, deftly braiding it while it was wet, tangles and all, making a mental note to comb through it when the lights were back and he could find his brush. The braid was lumpy and heavy from the water, but the weight would help keep it from coming apart without the tie on the end. "You wouldn't happen to have any lights handy, would you?"

"In Zero." They both looked outside, and Duo shook his head.

"So… we're stuck in the dark then."

"Seems so." Heero set his book aside, sitting back in the darkness. He hadn't had the time to charge his laptop, and he suddenly found himself with absolutely nothing to do.

Duo sat in the armchair, lit only by the slight glow of the rain clouds outside, and blew his bangs from his face. "Hey, Heero?"

"Yeah?"

"Wanna do something?"

"Do what?"

"I don't know. Maybe we could play a game or something." He pulled his leg up on the chair, wrapping his arms around it and resting his head on his knee.

In the near pitch black, Duo could just barely make out Heero tilting his head sideways to look at him. "In the dark?"

Duo hesitated for a moment, then said, "We could play Fishing for Friends."

Heero raised an eyebrow in the dark. "What does that entail, exactly?"

"It's basically like truth, except you don't deliberately ask disturbing questions. It's a simple get-to-know-you kind of game. Each person gets to ask one question, and only one. Once the question has been answered, and you have to answer it, the person asked asks someone else a question. Since there are only two of us, we'll just go back and forth, obviously."

"Alright, let's play."

"You can go first."

"Where did you learn this game?" It took Duo so long to answer, Heero thought he may have to prompt him to speak.

"In the orphanage where I spent some time as a kid. Every time a new kid came to stay with us, we'd play this game so they could get to know everyone. We always asked questions like 'do you like bugs?' and 'have you ever eaten worms?' We'd just play until Sister Helen served us our afternoon snack. I guess we'll just play until the lights come back on or until we get tired of it." He smiled a little. "Thinking back on it now, it was a really good way to break the ice."

"Is that what we're doing?"

"Now now, Yuy, you already asked your question. It's my turn. What's your favorite kind of candy?"

"I don't like candy. I much prefer sweet bread. Coffee or tea?"

"Coffee in the morning, tea at night. Soup or salad?"

"Salad. Soda or juice?"

"Mountain Dew, all the way. Saturday morning cartoons or late night drama?"

"Saturday morning cartoons. Arcade or console?"

"Arcade. Everything seems that much more exciting. Brush or comb?"

"For this mop? Definitely a comb. Five star hotel or crunched up on the couch with friends?"

"I'd take a couch full of friends any day. Do you like your toothbrush soft or hard?"

"Neither. I always buy medium. College education or experience?"

"Oh, that's a tough one. A little of both? Barefoot or tennis shoes?"

"Definitely my tennis shoes. Those old things are more comfortable than they look." Heero actually found himself smiling. This little game of Duo's really relaxed him and somehow made him want to know more about Duo – a lot more. "What do you think about between battles, just floating out in space with Deathscythe?"

Duo wasn't ready to take the game to a more personal level, and the question jarred him. He took a moment to think before answering. "Lots of things, really; what I could have done differently, what we're trying to accomplish and if we'll ever actually succeed, the recent friendships I've made and what I can do to keep them. It would take all day to answer that question, really. Do you think of the five of us as friends or just as just a handful of people working together to accomplish our goal and going our separate ways after it's all over?"

"I think of us as friends. At least, I hope we're friends. I guess I don't really have a lot of experience in that area." Heero ran his fingers through his hair. Though he started it, the personal questions were a bit more difficult to answer. At the same time, it was more liberating than he could explain. "I wouldn't want us all to lose contact, but I'm not really sure how to keep that sort of connection. Where do you see yourself in five years?"

"Five years? I can barely see myself tomorrow. Dead, lonely, working, traveling the world. Hell, I could be anywhere five years from now, really. God forbid we're still fighting this damn war. Ideally? Surrounded by people I care about, doing something I'm interested in doing, whether it be school or some sort of job, I don't really care. Just as long as this hell of a war is over and done with. If you survive the war, what do you want to do with your life?"

Heero thought about that for a minute, shifting his position to hunch over a little. "I've never really thought about it. I was convinced I wouldn't survive the war. Hell, I'm still not so sure. I'm just not as suicidal as the beginning of things. I mean, sure, it's crossed my mind a few times, but I never had more than a vague idea of independence. I think I'd like to live in a way that I wouldn't have to answer to anyone for anything. I guess it seems a little silly."

Duo tried to catch the expression on Heero's face, but with the window to his side and his face pointed away from the window towards Duo, he could only see shadows. "No, it doesn't seem silly at all," he murmured. Though Duo had a small taste of that freedom, he could easily see why Heero felt that way. He highly doubted Heero had ever been able to think only for himself.

"What do you think of me?"

Duo bit his lip. That seemingly innocent question was one he just didn't want to answer. "I…"

"You have to answer it, right? It's part of the rules."

"I know that. Just… what exactly do you mean by 'think of you'?"

"You can't answer a question with a question, Maxwell. Just say whatever comes to mind."

Duo took a deep breath, blowing it out heavily, disturbing his damp bangs. "You're a very strong person. Not just physically, but emotionally, too. It's not that you don't have your vulnerable moments, but then, who doesn't? It's your strength of will; your strong beliefs that define you. It shows in everything you do. Even though you put on a stony front, you really have a plethora of emotions just under the surface, and it doesn't take as much as some would think to draw them out. You're a motivating speaker when you choose to speak your mind, and your smile would be devastating to girls all over the country if only you did it more. You have a sharp wit that tends to be overlooked because of how dry it can be, but it's often better than any obvious joke could ever be. You're a lonely person, and though you speak well, you have trouble with social interaction on a more personal level. Your eyes are blue enough to make all the shades of the sky envy the color, and the messier your hair is, the better it looks. Most girls would kill to have hair that was so easy to deal with. Hell, most girls would kill to have YOU. Probably a good number of guys, too. You're probably one of the only people on the earth who can wear spandex and make it look… sexy." Duo blushed, thankful for the darkness. "I think that just about sums it up."

Heero was downright floored. He expected something about him being uptight, maybe something about him being recklessly determined, but Duo's assessment was so insightful and well thought-out that it almost left him speechless. And the comments on his physical appearance were unexpected at best. Even as all of this went through his mind, what actually popped out of his mouth was, "Sexy?"

"Yeah, well… Hey, it's my turn to ask the question. Does that bother you?"

"No, not in the slightest. Would it bother you if I felt the same?"

"Not at all. Do you?"

"Yes. God yes. Would you let me kiss you?"

"You didn't even have to ask. Are you going to?"

Warm hands slide around his midsection, and Duo dropped his leg to allow Heero to get closer. After a moment of hesitation and staring at the shadow of Duo's face in the dark, Heero pressed his lips against Duo's. A shiver went down his spine as the warm lips applied more pressure, and Heero cautiously opened his lips just a fraction, touching the tip of his tongue to Duo's bottom lip.

Duo groaned, grazing his teeth lightly against Heero's flesh. Tongues intermingled and one of Heero's hands found its way to the nape of Duo's neck and the other fingered the wet end of Duo's half-unraveled braid.

They broke apart for a moment, and Heero bit his lip, feeling the heat brushed across his cheeks. "I don't know what I'm doing… I have no idea what I could give you…"

"Give me this, Heero. I don't need anything else."

Heero smiled slightly. He had a whole new idea of what he wanted to do after the war. If he could explore more of the feeling tightening in his chest, he'd spend the rest of his life doing it.

Heero continued to answer Duo's question throughout the night, effectively finding a good way to end the game.

The lights came back on some hours later, but neither of them were quite so concerned anymore.


End file.
